Bike components check

Hey everyone. I've been reading up here and on other sites for a couple of months now and I was hoping to get some feedback on my potential build and to make sure I understand correctly everything I've learned (lol). Thank you in advance to anyone that reads this.

The original bike is a 1981 Honda NC50. When it was alive it had a 50cc motor and a top speed of about 30 mph, I was originally going to bump up the engine to 70cc and replace several parts on it but decided to just convert to electric instead. If this goes alright, I plan to buy a standard motorcycle later and convert it to electric too.

My goal is to get the bike up to 55 mph and a minimum range of 30 or 40 miles. I'm guessing with everything on it, the bike will be 100-150lbs, rider weight of 150-200lb. The back wheel, with tire, is 18.5".

So I guess my main question is: Does this combination of parts look correct to achieve my goal? Am I forgetting anything? Are there better places to buy motors and parts for cheaper? I know I could buy a cheaper brushed motor but I'd rather have brushless so I'm fine with the increase in price for that.

Additionally, what kind of charger should I get for this? Any suggestions?

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the Motenergy ME-1305 vs other motors? I was also considering the Mars 0907 BLDC ( https://www.cloudelectric.com/produc...-mars-0907.htm ) which might allow for a cheaper controller, but everyone I've read suggests a Kelly for it but that those are also apparently very unreliable - but all of that was also from 5+ years ago. Is this still true? Should I look into that instead? Or is there another compatible controller for the Mars 0907?

I'll be fabricating my own mounts and bodywork to protect the components, etc.

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Your goal of a 150lb bike with a 55mph top speed and range of 50 miles is a bit optimistic with 4 Pb acid batteries. I'm guessing the batts will weigh in at around 20 lbs each... thats 80lbs just for battery weight.... and you will be disappointed with the power output of those batts as well. Not to mention that you already are working with a pretty small bike chassis.
But don't be discouraged....building your own electric scoot is a big endeavor with lots of lessons to learn. I would just steer you away from lead acid batteries as a waste of time and money. My first attempt of building an emc 9 years ago used Pb acid batteries and although it worked, it was very heavy and very underpowered.
Definitely keep your eyes open for a good deal on Nissan Leaf cells... its your best and most affordable option

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I think that you should get a paired motor/controller combo rather than try to get individual parts like that and doing it yourself. I don't know of any file that exists for the 1305 motor for the Sevcon at the moment, so unless you have a dyno and experience tuning Sevcon, you're going to have a lot of trouble. You'll spend more time getting it working than putting the vehicle together.

Look around on the forums for some used motors/controllers if this is a first build. See how you like it, then you can decide if you want to upgrade, and pass along the motor/controller to someone else.

Your goal of a 150lb bike with a 55mph top speed and range of 50 miles is a bit optimistic with 4 Pb acid batteries. I'm guessing the batts will weigh in at around 20 lbs each... thats 80lbs just for battery weight.... and you will be disappointed with the power output of those batts as well. Not to mention that you already are working with a pretty small bike chassis.
But don't be discouraged....building your own electric scoot is a big endeavor with lots of lessons to learn. I would just steer you away from lead acid batteries as a waste of time and money. My first attempt of building an emc 9 years ago used Pb acid batteries and although it worked, it was very heavy and very underpowered.
Definitely keep your eyes open for a good deal on Nissan Leaf cells... its your best and most affordable option

Thanks for the advice. Do you know of any places or kinds of places should be looking for Nissan Leaf cells, other than the forums?

Originally Posted by frodus

I think that you should get a paired motor/controller combo rather than try to get individual parts like that and doing it yourself. I don't know of any file that exists for the 1305 motor for the Sevcon at the moment, so unless you have a dyno and experience tuning Sevcon, you're going to have a lot of trouble. You'll spend more time getting it working than putting the vehicle together.

Look around on the forums for some used motors/controllers if this is a first build. See how you like it, then you can decide if you want to upgrade, and pass along the motor/controller to someone else.

That's probably a better idea, I'll keep a lookout. I'm not in any hurry to build this, and it's mostly for learning purposes anyway.

Am I at least looking into the right type of motor in terms of power at least? 7kw/100amps, 48v, 5000rpm minimum? Would it be more advantageous to look into 72volts over 48v?

Last edited by anonjihen; 4 Weeks Ago at 1014.
Reason: combining two posts into one.